Phoenix's Ash
by Shiro Kurai
Summary: A story of rebirth as a demon gets reborn in the dead body of a young boy abandoned by his family. Join him on his quest for power, adventure, rebirth, and eternal loneliness; if he could just find a way for this blond haired girl to stop following him.
1. Prologue

Hello and again with a new story. Yes, maybe someday I will complete a story but likely not. I just like posting this as having an archive of them all. This one actually is going to be much different than the rest because this was done for a school project. So lots of things will be different. Enjoy your read.

 _'Thoughts'_

"Talking"

Normal

 **"Spells"**

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail all rights go to their respective owners.

* * *

 _ **Prologue**_

Through the limited view of the forest covered in both fog and rain, endless pellets of waters fell the from the sky. Freezing temperatures chilled one's skin to feel like chunks of ice. Rampaging winds made it feel as if you could fly with it while running counter was akin to running into a brick wall. Lightning raged from the heavens offering flashes of light. There were no stars hung high in the sky, no bright sun breaking through the dense clouds, no moon illuminating the night; only lightning flashing from the heavens. The rumblings of rancorous thunder caused one's heart to not rest at ease.

Through this endless rain ran an isolated anomaly, a boy. The hood of his coat having been thrown back from the rampaging wind. The coat was silky white with black trim along with an emblem laying over his heart. The emblem was a pale blue sword with a pair of black boney wings coming out of the hilt. This meant he was once part of the Dragneel family, the Dragneel family was one of the top five families on the continent. They are known for their abyss black hair and complimenting blood red eyes. This boy had been abandoned by the family, shown by the black wings. His soaked previously pitch black hair was turning pink or a salmon color as he would later describe it.

He still young having not yet been at the age to where he could be called handsome but his future was full of potential. With his head tilted down, he seemed distraught and lost. His whole body was covered in the shadows of trees from the flashes of lightning. These flashes were the only things illuminating the world on this dark and gloomy night. The world was representing this boy's feelings of endless sorrow.

* * *

How long he has been running was unknown; where he was going was just as.

Having been abandoned by his family he likely had nowhere else to go.

He was alone, no one would ever take a second glance at an abandoned child. This was the cruel fate of the world. It didn't matter why he was abandoned just the fact he had been.

His eyes were shut tightly not even bothering to see in front of him. His whole body had been soaked and his now pi- salmon hair completely embracing his head. He was likely crying shown by tears falling from his eyes but it could have been the rain rolling off his body. Then after all the running, he reached the end of the lush dark forest which led directly off a cliff.

The boy was none the wiser though, he just continued to run. Step by step he brought himself closer and closer to the edge. The rain continued to hit his head, falling more rampant with each step. His body didn't pause nor did it slow down, he had continued with his quickening pace. Each of his steps leaving an imprint in the mud below. The world seemed to pause in that moment before he brought himself less than eleven steps from the edge. Every one of his features could be imprinted into the mind before the world started once more.

This world represented his endless sorrow. The rain showed his sadness; the tears that ran down his young face. The lightning flashed with the beat of his heart; his uneasy heart. The thunder shouting from the heavens much like his own parents. The wind reminding him of the obstacles he has faced. The coldness of night freezing his jade white skin like the countless nights of sleeping in the mud. The forest being the costless times he has lost himself on the path he calls life. Him alone was exactly that his loneliness. The cliff at the end of the forest, much like the light at the end of a tunnel.

His body started to move once more his feet slamming into the ground with each step. Each and every step brought him closer to the cliff's edge, closer to the end of a tunnel. The rain grew harder with the tears and the lightning more frequent with his quickening heart.

In a few breaths of time the eleven steps had become one and with the next one, his body lost the feeling of the ground. He had the reached the end of the tunnel, this was supposed to be his end. He screamed opening his eyes as he turned his body over in mid-air trying to reach out for the cliff he had fallen from. It didn't matter how fast he was falling he kept his hand outreached for the cliff, the different between an inch and a foot didn't matter. As one hand remained outreached he traced a ring on his other enclosed fist.

He knew that this day would occur, just didn't expect it so soon. He was still so young, his life so far in front of him. He was like a toad in a well, entrapped to the place he started not able to see the rest of the world. He was abandoned at a young age for his inability at using magic. He was a non-mage born to one of the most prestigious families on the continent. He may have been born to his father's first wife but that meant nothing, he was destined to be a nobody.

The words he had been told through his less than a decade of aging reverberated through his mind in this moment before death. All the times he was called a nobody, a weakling, unwanted, unneeded, useless, that he would never amount to anything. No one was on his side, not even his own parents; they more than anyone else reinforced these insults.

It didn't matter how are he worked, no matter how much time he spent studying, he would never become someone.

He would be no noble hero,

No king of the world.

The rich,

The privileged,

The strong,

The geniuses

They are all born that way.

Hardworking,

Dedication,

Passion

Don't matter.

In a single moment, none of these words mattered anymore; he was gone. His time of falling through the sky…no he wasn't unworthy of falling from the sky. The sky is for the proud, the mighty, not a place for a non-mage; putting him there is an insult to those great masters. Even saying that he was falling from the mountains would be an insult. He had never reached the peak of any sort of realm; he was still the mud under someone's shoe unworthy of being at the peak of a mountain. He wasn't worthy of any height, the only death him being worthy of would be tripping over his own two feet.

His body had connected with the ground forcing his world to go black as he released a scream of pain from all his bones breaking. With his now completely faded strength his previously outstretched arm fell to his side. With faded thoughts, he wished to be stronger, strong enough that he would later become king of this world. The dream of a child, that he continued to dream even when on death's doorstep. This date should have marked the end of his adventure.

* * *

A world full of adventures.

The sand filled land stretched far fading away as it reached the horizon, isolated from everyone else knelt someone. There was no companionship, no other signs of life around him, the definition of the middle of nowhere.

Like everyone, he had once dreamed of being an adventurer, to be a legend, to be a living myth. He knew this dream could bring him death but he braved on. He didn't turn back nor did he hold regrets. His adventure had brought him to this single point, to the Desert of Remorse; a place he himself had created. Looking at his open palms he had found them to extremely coarse and to blend in with the sand below, they had changed many times since his adventure had started. When he started they had been like white jade pure and untainted. He had known nothing about his future hardships.

As he aged they grew rougher and darker losing their original charm. Each passing night had brought him endless pain, he never turned back, never regretted the cost.

Later they had been stained red from the lives he had taken in his quest for adventure. He had become exactly what he wished for a "hero".

What truly is a hero? Some would say the person who saves the girl, the person who saves the world, the person who protects what matters to them. They would all agree that the hero fights for justice.

Then what is justice? The idea to which is correct and true.

Countless people live their lives bound by the idea of what they strive as correct and true. That is how they define their own reality.

But what does it mean to be correct or true? They are vague concepts... their reality may all be a faded dream. Can we consider them to simply be living in their own realms, shaped by their beliefs?

Magic a power that alters reality.

Does that mean that magic is the only truth in this world?

In this world the weak dictate the land, the world dictates the weak, and the strong dictate the world.

This man dictates the world reshaping it to his desires. Even if he can reshape the world, he cannot turn back time. He himself cannot fully escape death. After decades of life, he had no regrets no ideas of looking back on his problems. Time continued to flow as those he grew close to died around him.

As he stared down at his hands he felt remorse for his past actions. This was the reason for why this once flourishing land was now deserted of all life was himself. The first things he did once he became a legend he wanted to become better, more powerful. He left in search of a place filled with evil, trying to serve them justice. At the cost of the nine days of killing he reshaped the land. The flourishing mountains filled with animals and people was a vivid memory of the past. This once prospering evil land had vanished from the world. Once known as the Mountains of Disgrace filled with evil, were now the Sands of Remorse.

He had become what he wished for a living myth. His accomplishments were told all across the realms as he strived to become more and more powerful. He was at one point a toad in a well naïve to the world all around him. He was naïve to the point of believing that where he had grown up was the only place in existence. He had not known of all the other realms existing around him all the trials that would appear before him.

This single plane was a mere speck compared to the vast realms in existence. He strived to get stronger to travel even farther from his starting point. He no longer wished to be a toad in a well he wished to be a dragon in the clouds.

Countless decades if not centuries passed as he continued on his goal of leaving to the Realm of Gods. He had reached that, the peak existence in this current realm. He was already revered as a god in human form, a myth told to children as bedtime stories, an existence that shouldn't exist. No one dared to believe that the stories they were told were true, that the people who once knew him weren't insane. Even as a god in this single Blue Star Realm he was common in the Realm of Gods.

His mission had started once more trying to complete the same mission he had done once before. A myth is only as good as the person who creates the story, the character has no say in how it would be remembered. In the Realm of Gods, he thought he was fighting for justice killing those who wronged him. He couldn't have been more wrong though. He wasn't remembered as a noble hero nor a king among kings. He was still a living myth, but not the kind he dreamt of.

He was told to be the reincarnation of Death if anyone so much as looked at him the wrong way they might as well forfeit their life. He took countless lives without discrimination.

We as humans, don't know what kind of people we truly are until the moment before our deaths. In death's cold embrace you, you will realize who you are.

Death is indiscriminate.

Good or bad, young or old, it doesn't matter. Death is merciless but equal to all. That is why it is feared by those who understand it.

The true measure of a person's worth is how they die, not how they live. It is what they did before dying that will leave their mark on the world.

His myth had created nightmares for those who heard of it, created a goal who you shouldn't try to be. So when he stood at its peak he was once again alone. Those around him scared to ever be in the same area as himself. He vanished once more traveling to Realm standing at their peaks creating myth after myth. Some viewed him as a god, some the devil, some never knew of the peak existence.

In every world he was once again alone standing at the peak of any realm he traveled to. There are two ultimate dreams a man pursues; one is to conquer the realms, the other to conquer women. To conquer the realm is reach a new peak in existing but to conquer women is to embellish the scenery of life. If one isn't able to conquer the woman he wants, even if he conquered all the realms, he would stand at a lonely summit, and experience isolation everywhere. Soon there was nowhere else to go, so he traveled back to where he started, the Blue Star Realm.

He traveled back to where he first became a myth the Desert of Remorse nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine years ago. When the sun rose from the east on the next morning he would have been kneeling for a year mourning his regrets.

He had killed countless women, men, children, fey, dragons, demons, and gods. His hands have since been stained a red he could never wash away. The reward for it all was a dream he has long since forgotten. It was a childish dream, a dream of someone who was naïve to the world they existed in.

There is no human without flaw to become the myth you wish to be you need to take lives. Some would view this as greatness while other view this as the reincarnation of death herself. With the moon setting in the west and the sun rising in the east it the start of a new day and marked ten thousand years since the start of his myths.

With his head rising he faces the sun feeling a sense of rebirth like the legendary phoenix. With him standing up the world blurs away fading to black. Much like the sun rose from the east a pink haired boy rose from his sleep.

* * *

Yes I know odd and not at all cannon but whatever, bye now.

-Shiro


	2. Phoenix Ash

Welcome to incomplete chapter 1 but oh well. Surprised by the positive response I got the last chapter so let's get on with the show.

 _'Thoughts'_

"Talking"

Normal

 **"Spells"**

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail all rights go to their respective owners.

* * *

 ** _Chapter 1: Phoenix's Ash_**

His eyes were hazy as he tried to take in his surroundings. In the same breath, the haziness left his eyes widened as he released a wail of extreme pain, awakening the sleeping animals of the forest. The pain felt similar to his whole body having been lit aflame by a radiant sun. Besides the burning he felt, he was unable to move his body. In his countless centuries of life, he had yet felt pain of this caliber. He knew that every bone in his body had been broken but didn't know how. The last thing he remembered was being in the Desert of Remorse kneeling three hundred sixty-five days and three hundred sixty-five nights.

Though now he was in what he could tell was a wooden shack. It had the warm robust nature smell that went along with the feeling of comfort the simplicity of it gave. The wood had been recently cut still having been vanilla yellow with no signs of age. The unimpaired vibrant glowing white rays of honeydew shone through a hole in the east wall.

Hearing the sound similar to a door a voice sounds throughout the room, "You're awake," her voice was surprisingly calm while also sounding akin to the sound of an angel, was as sweet as candy, as soft as morning clouds and timid as a young girl.

He tries to reply to the girl but all that escapes his mouth is a grunt-filled of pain. Quickly noticing this she rushed over to his side as she slightly lifted up from his laying position. At the movement, he felt more pain another grunt falls from his lips.

This world was cruel with no sense of mercy. In life, it was just as merciless as it was in death. When you leave your mother's warm embrace, when you are thrown out into the world there is no idea of safety, no second chances for those with regrets.  
At this moment though he would believe this all to be falsities created by those who don't understand the idea of life.  
He held regrets; he was never felt safe even when in his mother's embrace. Yet here he sat in extreme pain unknown to how this all came to be. This wasn't the body he remembered, this body was young unlikely his past self. This body felt pain an emotion he had long since forgotten. This body was crippled in the ways of magic unlike his past of standing at every peak. Most of all he was alone, there was someone likely less than a decade old by his side.  
She was an unmatched beauty, a plain white dress adorns her body, her hair was long and looked similar to a pale yellow glow of a dulled sun. Her skin glowed with the luster of a flawless jade, her appearance being compared to the full moon on a cloudless night, her eyes were like the water on a calm autumn evening. She has a fine nose, pointed chin, and a jade like neck. She gave off the aura of a child purity and kindness.

"Don't try and move on your own, I used some healing magic on your shattered bones but they haven't completely set yet." She spoke with her still angelic voice.

This idea of having someone else care for him was foreign. The idea of always being alone without anyone standing at the same peak was something he had long given up on. He was a demon, god, Death. Over everything he made been addressed multiple ways to where if you declared a title to the heavens he was likely already addressed it.

Before it all, and even today he was no god, no demon, nor Death herself. He was human the weakest of all races. Human are the jack of all trades race average at everything with no superior traits.  
They may not hold the most overall strength nor the brightest intellect; humans were the most adaptable. This was because they held no low-end trait they were average in everything giving them the ability to react and adapt to any situation someone put before them something the other races couldn't do.  
He spent many millennia traveling the realms, time after time he would see humans at the bottom of the social ladder. When he reached the peak he would never be disrobed as the race he truly was he would be something else altogether. He would have been revered as a god to some, a demon to others, never a human.  
"I'm actually surprised you are actually alive." She commented in a concerned tone as her eyes glistened in the light.  
"When I found you, you were lying motionless on the ground with all your bones broken and not breathing at first glance you seemed dead. I couldn't just leave you there alone though so I brought you back and used my magic to heal you." She continued growing a smile. The brightness of the sun couldn't even compare to her own smile. "I'm glad I didn't too because here you are alive likely because of it."

"Thank…you…" His voice was hoarse and weak along with being filled with pain. The idea of being cared for may be foreign to him but he hadn't forgotten formalities taught to him.  
"No. No," She hastily said.

"Don't force yourself to talk yet I just heard your wail of pain and rushed to see what happened. My name is Mavis Vermillion and you will be in my care for a while." In her happily smiling face, she held a beauty no ten-year-old show have.

"Natsu…Dragneel…"

* * *

Time continued to flow by as Natsu was bedridden for day after day. Mavis would always come and talk to him in the morning before making him soups for his meals. Natsu had been independent his whole life so this idea of depending on another was an idea he was foreign too. He had enjoyed the silence the lonely peak had given him though. The first morning it was an enjoyable difference but as morning after morning came he began to dislike the idea of companionship. The silence he had long since got accustomed to, was destroyed in a single week.  
She always sounded so joyful to be able to talk to him, even though he ever really replied. Talking had brought great amounts pain to his already burning body. She never seemed to mind the silence though; she would continue to talk. About how beautiful the sun was, or even how the rain brought feelings of sadness. Every time words would escape her pale pink lips she would be praising the simple things but in a profound way. She sounded so joyful with every word carrying the laughs of chiming bells on a wedding morning.  
This joyful sound to the ear didn't lower his sense of dismay at the feeling of not being alone. Through it all, he could sigh in dismay unable to change his current situation. If this was the past all this would only take from the sun rising in the east to setting in the west for him to be healed. His healing capabilities had been at their peak unrivaled by anyone under the sun. Today he was a non-mage unable to even use the simplest of spells, the injury he had even having chances to take his life.  
So he laid unable to escape this decency on someone else. He was forced to rely on someone he had never met before today. At the rate of the current healing, he was going to be in this situation for a month having to depend on Mavis. The sense of silence he had begun to enjoy was a dream he would likely never get to achieve, even after he was healed she wouldn't leave him.

* * *

Next chapter should be out shortly and if it isn't it is likely I will be really behind on this assignment.

-Shiro


	3. Phoenix Ash (2)

Welcome to the second part of chapter 1. Hope you all enjoy.

* * *

Over the next three weeks, he laid in the care of Mavis slowly being able to do things himself. It started with being able to talk in conversations with Mavis which brought him no joy.

"So what's your story?" She asked with her tilted to the side incuriousness.

"My story on what?" Natsu answered completely knowing the story she wanted but was

trying his best to avoid it. He himself was not sure how this body got the way

it was and saying that he was reborn wouldn't be a good answer.

"The story of how you ended up close to death alone on the ground?" Natsu was hesitant to answer her unsure of the answer himself. The longer and longer he stayed silence the more suspicious Mavis would become from his answer.

"I don't remember." It wasn't a full lie as he really didn't know what had happened to put him in this situation. The last thing he remembered was being alone in the Desert of Remorse yet he awoke he was here being cared for by Mavis. He couldn't say any of this though as that would be more suspicious than not remembering anything at all. He could only assume something big happened this person which is why all the bones in their body had been broken.

"Since you don't want to tell me you don't have to," Mavis answered still smiling.

Nastu wasn't overly shocked by her response as from the day he had met her, she always seemed more mature than her looks gave credit for. Those few moments of hesitation were likely seen through by her no matter how few breaths they lasted. Even still he hid the minimal amounts of shock in his heart.

The room fell to silence as Natsu how no clue how to restart the conversation. Talking was foreign to him an idea he was unknown too. The silence wasn't bothersome though, to either of them, it was a calming difference. Day after day Mavis would come and talk the day away without exception but today was a different experience. They both sat there without saying a word unwilling to break the quiet room. Natsu enjoyed the silence more than Mavis likely had as it had reminded him of his days of constant travel. Reminded him that even if this world he was currently in he would repeat the realm he once existed in. So from sunrise to sunset, no words had been spoken both of them having sat there in tranquil silence.

* * *

A full month had passed since Natsu had been found by Mavis and was brought back to her little hut. It was the first day that Natsu moved since having all his bones broken. It wasn't on his own as Mavis was supporting him as he took each step. The owner of this idea wasn't Natsu, as he would never agree to have more dependence on someone than needed. This ingenious idea was completely from Mavis's own head and against Natsu's wishes.

Natsu had arisen from his bed the moment his feet touched the ground he released a groan of pain which had awoken Mavis. In the breath her morning haziness left her body she appeared next to Aster forcefully supporting his as she tried to make him sit back down. Begrudgingly he sat down on the makeshift bed.

Mavis's face was covered in panic as she checked him over to see if any of his bones didn't set right. In her usually, calm eyes were filled with sadness, paired along with the fact her pale lips had been pushed down into a frown.

"Why did you try and stand up on your own?" She asked with a pout bring a new type of beauty her previous self. She was concerned for his well-being but this would never change the fact that Natsu hates relying on others.

"I have been this bed too long." He, of course, wouldn't say that it was because he wanted to get away from her as the pain she would inflict on him would likely be ten times worse than he had once felt. An angry woman is far scarier than any demon, or god he had ever faced. Gulping down the fear he hid it deep in his heart.

"It's been a month Mavis I should be able to move by now." He stated trying to change her mind, he knew it likely wouldn't work but never hurts to try.

She stayed silent for a few moments thinking about everything, "I'll let you leave the bed,"

At hearing this Natsu's face lit up in surprise unsure of how her mind changed so quickly. She moment she would tie him to the bed making him unable to move, but now she allowed him to get up.

"But I have to be supporting you." She continued with her condition.

Natsu may not have enjoyed the condition or even wanted to agree to it. It would force him to do the one thing he didn't wish to but with her longer. He just wanted silence to be alone like he once had been. Being able to move outweighed this thought, he would rather be standing for the first in a month and trapped with Mavis than being trapped in the bed. There is only so long someone in can trapped in such a situation.

Now he seeing the forest he had been in for a month his own eyes, it wasn't Mavis explaining it all to him nor was it through the small hole in the wall. The sounds of the animals making wonderful tones from all around him. The morning rays of light coming in from the canopy giving the falling autumn leaves a golden glow. The slight cold breeze a remembrance that this isn't all a dream. Comparing all beauties in nature it paled to the beauty of Mavis. She held a beauty no human should have. The rays of lights gave her golden hair a new sense of beauty. Her calm lime eyes reflecting the beauty of nature within them. Her petite form giving a beauty only a child could hold. She felt like an angel descended from heaven to grace the world with her prescience.

None of this mattered to Natsu he would choose isolation over being Mavis any day. He would go back to his past any day without a second thought. He had been reborn for a chance to fix his regrets; he had been given a second chance in a new life. If given the chance though to make the same choices all over again he would. He would become a living myth once more, a legend but not for killing.

He would make his legend on helping those no mattered how much he loved isolation.

As Mavis brought him out of the forest bright rays of light blinding him.

* * *

Time to start the journey.


	4. Running through the Light

Hello and welcome back. I have finally finished school and with that a new chapter. Just a filler chapter as absolutely nothing really happens besides information building.

 _'Thoughts'_

"Talking"

Normal

 **"Spells"**

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail all rights go to their respective owners.

* * *

 ** _Chapter 2: Running through the Light_**

"So who are you truly?" Mavis asked as Natsu and herself walked through the forest. It had been three months since she had saved him but she still knew nothing about him besides that his name. No matter how far he walked, no matter where he turned to, she would be following behind. He was a mysterious guy which had brought her that much more drawn to him. The more he wished to hide his past the more she dreamed of the answer.

"No one," His answer was blunt and held a tone of annoyance. She would seriously never leave him alone no matter where he went. He had walked out into the forest to calm himself but Mavis was step by step with him with her ever glowing smile. Others in his situation would be filled with both jealousy and envy but if you asked, Natsu would trade places with them any day. All he wished for was silence but with this talkative blond with him, that was a fading dream.

"Come on. Is there any need to lie to your best friend?" She stated while blocking off his path. He paused in his stride looking down at her. He saw that her eyebrows were tilted down in annoyance and her lip was pushed out into a pout. This was all disregarded as worthless information.

"Best friend?" He questioned confused how she ever came up with such an absurd idea. He didn't even consider her as a friend so best friend was totally out of this realm. He only has put up with her this long because she had saved his life and that is a debt he can never repay. This world is unforgiving so being gifted a second chance is worth any sort of pain.

"Of course, since there is no one else in your life that makes me your best friend." She beamed gleefully. If given the choice about dying or being with this talkative blond, he may have chosen being dead.

"Fine. Whatever," There was no winning with this girl. If he continued his arguing she wouldn't allow him to continue on exploring the forest.

"So who are you then?" Once again following him in tow.

"I'm Natsu Dragneel."

"I already know that but who is Natsu? Judging from your characteristics you are exiled from the family. Why?"

"Not every question has an answer much like every beginning doesn't have an end." Philosophy something, he always hated during his travels. He had hoped this would confuse her enough to where she would stop questioning him though. If he were describing the sun he would say it stands alone illuminating the sky. A philosopher would say the sun hangs alone in the sky breaking through both clouds and trees shine down on their walking path. The profoundness of philosophy is unneeded.

"No man nor woman is immortal for their beginning come to an end."

"Life isn't the only existence in the world."

"Everything comes to an end for if it does have a beginning it holds an end. That is how the world remains equal."

"Infinity by definition has no end. It is not finite which is why it is the dream of mages." Every mage and non-mage dreams of infinite power. The power to use magic continuously without care. Natsu at one point dreamed of it too but soon threw it up to be a childish dream. Infinite power is a power against the gods and the equilibrium of this realm. The One magic is another dream of mages; Natsu had once unlocked the beginning of its secrets but knew it was something completely out of his reach even at his peak.

"Infinity has no beginning for no beginning can have no end."

Natsu paused mid-step, the words reverberating through his head. Having paused mid-step Mavis had walked straight into him rubbing her forehead as she backed up. She seemed confused as to what had caused Natsu to have such a reaction. The reason for his shock was that the line she spoke was the first step to unlocking the One magic was understanding that exact phrase.

"Where have you heard that line before?" Were the people of this realm that much more experienced with the One magic that any person knew that line?

"Wouldn't you like to know?" She said teasing him as she ran ahead holding back a laugh. The rays of light dancing all over her fading body. Seeing her vanish from his sight Natsu sighed in both relief and shock.

"I simply overreacted there is no way she could know about the One magic at her age. I had long passed my peak before I even learned of its existence." Not bothering to walk any further he sat under a tree watching the leaves moves with the calm wind. The simple things in life were objects he never got to enjoy. He never got to enjoy the rising sun without the world already being soaked. Never got to indulge himself as the stars illuminated the night sky for the stars had long since been purged from existence.

He was once the greatest power in existence feared by all those who heard his name. His life was full of silence never a moment of voices except dismay. Because of their fear they hated his existence, for greed leads to horrible mistakes. Peak experts challenged him time after time, their own pride making them unable to admit their own faults. They all fell just the same their bodies had charged him full of both vigor and childish dreams. By the end, he had left a trail of corpses behind him. The only way to prove oneself to unrivaled he has to create a pile of corpses as a statement. He became unrivaled among mortals so he traveled further. He had met fey which would in another life be called elves. A new pile and legend had been born, from fey was to demons, and then from demons to dragons. Dragons were considered the strong beings besides the divines. Yet just like all the rest they had fallen to Natsu's hands. So the pile continued to grow till he could rival the divines. A tower sways in the wind, a mountain erodes with the rain, a pile of corpse last as long as their killer.

He had made a pile to the heavens and become a threat to the standing gods. So with new challengers came new deaths. Divine beings weren't even his match as the pile continued to grow. As the pile, he dreamed of new heights but there was nothing higher, there was no new challenge.

Watching the leaves in the wind reminded him of all of this. Reminded him of the person he had created himself into. This moment of being able to sit still while listening to the birds' chirp and feeling the cooling breeze was foreign to him. The air was filled with the heavy scent of blood but of nature. Filled with flowers and trees, foods and animals, life, an idea that fades when surrounded in death.

A small but genuine smile made its way onto his face for what seemed like the first since he came to this realm.

"So you can smile." Not far in front of him stood Mavis her ever beaming smile still evident as always. The glow of the sun shined from behind her giving her a divine appearance. The moment Natsu noticed her his face went back to its normal expressionless self. Mavis slightly laughed into her hand giving her eyes the look of two large crescent moons.

"You should smile more it looks better than your normal self." She commented suppressing her laughter.

"I'll pass," He replied standing up and dusting off his pants.

* * *

As I stated information building. With the school year now over I have finished this project so I will really only continue writing this if you guys want. I know there are a lot of stories I could be working on but I never complete what I start.

-Shiro


	5. The Truth

Haven't had any action in the story yet so, going to force some in. Confused on how don't worry it will all become obvious very shortly. Will also try and explain some things along the way. Will leave some mystery but some minor questions will be answered while adding some action. So yes another filler. Likely what this story may become, sigh.

 _'Thoughts'_

"Talking"

Normal

 **"Spells"**

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail all rights go to their respective owners.

* * *

As we sleep our brains are still active processing our memories clearing the materials we don't need. It is an immaculate object that works similar to a program trying to work at its highest efficiency. This is why that after Natsu was reincarnated into this new body all the memories of his past life were wiped. His brain had deemed the materials of the now dead child as waste.

It had viewed those years as life as dreams so it wiped them away. It would also be viewed of that as when Natsu had fallen off that cliff and died his then brain had shut down and when he was reborn all the memories had already been forgotten never needing to be wiped.

As Natsu laid in his bed these thoughts had passed through his mind trying to grasp at any straw he could get his hands on. No matter how long he stared at the wooden ceiling above him, no concrete answer came to mind. He was leaning towards the fact that his memories had been wiped by his brain when he was reborn into this new life. Because of this, he was left with countless questions on how this life had turned out where it had.

Sighing he shakes his head and forces himself to fall into the view of complete darkness and get some sleep.

"Do you believe yourself to be a god?" A masculine voice echoed all from all around him and boomed for miles from where they stood. The voice was filled with power and arrogance as they sneered the words across the sky.

"No." His voice was quiet but the other man could hear him clearly.

"Then why do you stand at the world's highest peak? Why do you challenge all those around you without a sense of hesitation? Do you believe yourself to be so powerful that no one can make you?" The voice didn't waver in the slightest having only grown louder with each word.

"I don't need to be a god to stand at the peak." Natsu's replies were short unwilling to continue talking. He felt that there was no need to explain himself to this man, the man would be dead soon anyway. Corpses had no way to remember the information given to them.

The space in front of Natsu warps as a middle-aged looking man walks out from the distortion.

"You want to believe you are the strongest being in the existence?"

Natsu remained silent at the question. The answer was far too simple; he didn't believe he was the strongest being in existence. It didn't come down to his own beliefs, it didn't come down to thought. He was the strongest being without any sort of equal, he had been through more trials than others can imagine, and killed more, than years the gods existed. He mastered every magic to the crest of perfection allowing him to incinerate gods faster than one could blink. This person's space magic versus his own was the difference between the heavens and earthland. Only one wisp of fire would be needed to leave this man without a body. This man had the ability to look down on the world not even with the gods as his equal but in the face of Natsu, he was nothing. It wasn't just this man though, no one was his equal which is why he was nicknamed END, for no matter who crossed his path they met their ultimate end.

With a simple flick of his wrist, a lightless flame left his palm. The flame was completely black devoid of all forms of light. The speed it had left hand was faster than one would think, to Natsu it slower than a snail. Before the man could even react he was already covered from head to toes in the flames and in the next moment there was nothing left. He never got to release a form of distress, no screams, no flails of panic, no chance to hesitate his actions. Before any of this could occur he was long since dead, his whole body turned to nothing, not even ash was left to be blown into the wind.

This world was growing increasingly boring with each passing moment that he existed in it. Maybe in another life, he would get an exciting life filled with even greater challenges than the one he experienced in his current one. Maybe in another life, he would live as a non-mage unable to live on his own. Imagining this made himself chuckle the peak existence of this world, living as a non-mage in another is something that would make his opponents puke blood at. As the thought flew through his mind the world got covered in gray before changing scenes.

* * *

On a stage stood two young men. One of which was a younger version of Natsu likely still not past the age of eighteen, while his opponent was looked over twenty-five. This was the final to a competition that Natsu would never forget. The cheer of the crowd with split cheers for both him and his opponent.

They both stood across from one another neither daring to move. The winner of this fight would stand in the greater limelight the other forgotten with time. Natsu's opponent was the first to make a move, after seeing a flash of hesitation appear in Natsu's eyes. Under Natsu's feet spikes of ice shot up attempting to injure him.

Reacting quickly Natsu jumps out of the range and closer to his opponent, he preferred close ranged fighting over long range. While landing ice shot at him forcing him to once more to dodge by rolling to the left. Natsu may hate having to keep dodging, there was nothing he could do otherwise.

His opponent was continuously on the offensive not giving a moment of breathing room. So far only using a mix of two spells, both of the ice element. To the crowd, it seemed Natsu was at a huge disadvantage from the get-go and in a way they weren't wrong. They didn't see the whole picture with each step though. With each jump and roll, he was closing the starting gap with no injuries. One mistake from either side could mark a flip in the tide but in their current situation, they were at a stalemate.

During one of the ice shots, the man swung his arm slightly too high leaving a gap for Natsu to take action. Covering his arms in lightless black flames he closed the less than a meter gap in that single moment. The man throws himself to the ground has he tries to sweep at Natsu's legs. Natsu reacts barely dodges the kick by jumping into the air. He covers his right leg in flames as brings it down on the top of the man's head.

 **"Absolute Zero Ice Shell"**

Coming out of the ground around the man a dome. The ice looks completely white with no imperfections much different than the greenish ice he was shooting out earlier. Natsu's attack breaks through the ice with no left-over strength. His opponent pushes him off with crossed arms resetting them back to the start.

Time and time this had occurred. Neither side seemed to be gaining any sort of advantage over the other. In a single step, this all had changed, Natsu slipped on a patch of ice. Slowly his opponent had been covering the field in ice unnoticed by Natsu till it was too late. His opponent slammed their hands on the ground, **"Absolute Zero Ice Geyser"**

Natsu was encased in a brick of ice shooting up from the ground. Inside the ice, it began to melt from pitch black flames. Soon there was nothing left beside an evaporating puddle.

"Aster Curtail," He said from across the stage having not introduced himself earlier.

"Natsu Dragneel," was the equally short reply.

Following this they got immediately went back to fighting. Not making the same mistake twice Natsu keeps his feet covered in fire always ready to react. Not seeing him get a second opening without forcing something Natsu begins to enact a second plan he had yet to think of. Shooting the fire from his own hands he matches Aster move for move. They were once more in a stalemate neither side having the advantage once more. Natsu's flames melted the ice while Aster's ice froze Natsu's flame. Back and forth the advantage would flip neither lasting for a single moment.

Natsu pushed himself through the ice as he closed into Aster bring the battle from range to close hand to hand. Aster had pure white sword matching fist move for move. They were pushed away of one another but Natsu always made his way back to make it hand to hand.

When in hand to hand combat Natsu held the advantage but when pushed apart Aster held the momentum. Two steps up the ladder to only end up right back where they started time and time again.

Out of nowhere everything changed, Natsu's flames were completely encased in ice. The vision was a sense of beauty one would never forget. Aster's pure white flawless ice that glistened in the light held a lightless black flame inside of it unable to escape no matter how violently it moved. Aster's ice had become colder than Natsu's flames. Natsu was once more tripped up as he fell to the ground.

* * *

As Natsu fell to the ground in his dream he had rolled out of his bed landing on the ground with a thud. His mind was still groggy from the dream not yet knowing he awake. Rubbing his head, he cursed under his breath at the memory. He won't ever admit it but in that battle, he had been outdone. Aster should have won the battle and it's rewards but in battle, the person who is better doesn't always win. During the battle Aster's wife had passed away in the crowd, she had been assassinated. This had been enough for him to become distracted and led to him being pushed off the stage by Natsu without any ability to fight back. Looking down at his neck he grips the scarf, the reward for the battle.

At the sound of the thud, Mavis rushed in Natsu's room to see what had happened. She was unsurprised to see him lying on the ground but worried none the less. Rushing over to him she lifts him into a sitting position asking, "Are you okay?" No matter how cold Natsu is to her she will always worry about him.

"I'm fine." He replied short as always,

"Want to talk?" She suggested,

"No," He declined,

"I want to create a guild one day. A guild for everyone." She didn't care for his answer as she continued to talk anyway.

"A guild built on friendship and loyalty, a place that is like a family for those who don't have one."

"A family huh?" Natsu said unintentionally

"You are interested." She smiles at him, she could continue talking for days about anything without; hearing a reply from Natsu so the few time words were spoken meant he was interested.

Realizing the slip, he stays silent. He was gifted with an amazing in his past life willing to do the best and giving him anything he wanted. He had left them all too soon never getting that feeling a second time in his life. After he had left the family he had never seen them a second time. They were the greatest gift to him but he threw it away like it was nothing. The idea of having a second chance at a family was an idea he treasured.

"How about you tell me something about yourself now?" She questioned,

"One question." He answered. He was hesitant with his answer wanting to say a simple no, but when looking down into her deep eyes he found himself agreeing. He could only sigh had his weakness.

"You say you are Natsu Dragneel. Who are you truly? Explain yourself to me." The question she had been asking every day and night may finally be answered.

Natsu sat there in silence as he collected his thoughts. There were limits to what he could and couldn't say, he still didn't know anything about the girl in front of him. She was named Mavis Vermillion but that was all he knew everything else was unknown to him.

"I'm Natsu Dragneel, non-mage, in another life I was a demon…"

* * *

Till next time


End file.
